Printer driver, print control method and information recording medium

ABSTRACT

When printing a print document for which there is a print request from an application program, printing the one or plural print documents printed by page unit where a specific paper size is one page is controlled based on plural combinations of print paper feeding and cutting.  
     When the page mode is the Form [No cut] mode, print image data is generated so that a paper feed is executed after completing printing one page (step S 503 ); when the page mode is the Form [Cut] mode, print image data is generated so that a paper feed is executed after completing printing one page and a paper cut command is issued when paper feeding is completed (step S 504 ); when the page mode is the Report [No cut] mode, print image data is generated so that a paper feed is executed after completing printing one print document (step S 505 ); when the page mode is the Report [Cut] mode, print image data is generated so that a paper feed is executed after completing printing one print document and a paper cut command is issued when paper feeding is completed (step S 506 ), and the page mode correspondence process ends.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0001] The present invention relates to a printer driver, a printingcontrol method, and a data storage medium. More particularly, theinvention relates to a data storage medium, printing control method, andprinter driver having means for controlling printing one or multipleprint documents printed in page units based on plural combinations ofprinting paper feeding and paper cutting operations.

Related Art

[0002] The hardware resources (referred to below as simply “resources”)shared by various application programs in data processing devices suchas computers are conventionally centrally controlled and managed by theoperating system. A driver written in software corresponds to eachresource and can operate as a device (driver) for managing the resourceby running the driver program on the data processing device.

[0003] For example, a printer is one such resource and an applicationprogram running on the data processing device uses the printer to printby means of a procedure such as follows.

[0004] (1) The application program sends a print request containinginformation about the print document to be printed to the operatingsystem. More specifically, it specifies parameters such as the addressin memory where the print document data is stored and the amount of datastored, and invokes a system call to the operating system.

[0005] (2) The operating system invokes a service routine provided bythe printer driver, passing the print document data parameters to theservice routine.

[0006] (3) The printer driver service routine presents the currentprinter settings on a display connected to the data processing device,for example, for confirmation by the user. The printer settingstypically enable specifying the paper size and orientation, for example.

[0007] (4) Once the settings are confirmed, the service routinegenerates a print command for the printer from the print document dataand printer settings, and sends the print command to the printer.

[0008] The printer driver thus functions to relay print settings for theprinter and commands from the application program for printing to theprinter. The printer driver therefore functions as a control partperforming said function as a result of the program requesting saidfunction.

[0009] By incorporating the printer driver program into the computer orother data processing device, the data processing device functions as aprinter driver device.

[0010] Printers built into or used in conjunction with POS terminals,ATM terminals, and kiosk terminals include printers that use rolls ofpaper. A transport mechanism (transport unit) for advancing the paper tocreate blank space on the paper, and a cutter mechanism (paper cuttingunit) for cutting the roll of paper to a desired length, are built in tothis type of printer using roll paper.

[0011] However, printer setting requests for paper feeding and papercutting, to a printer that uses a roll of paper, are handled separatelyby the application program selecting the printer driver performing adesired function from among multiple printer drivers having differentfunctions for paper feeding and paper cutting. For example, if the paperorientation is set to “portrait,” there are two types of printerdrivers, a printer driver written to advance the paper to create blankspace after the printed part of the page on which the print document isprinted and then cut the paper after advancing it, and a printer driverwritten to advance the paper to create blank space after the printedpart of the page on which the print document is printed without thencutting the paper.

[0012] If two types of printer drivers such as described above are builtinto the POS terminal, ATM terminal, or kiosk terminal, one of theprinter drivers must be selected when creating the application programand the application program then written to match the selected printerdriver; when one type of printer driver is selected and only theselected printer driver is built into the data processing device, theapplication program must be written to match the included printerdriver. The problem, therefore, is that the application program must beseparately developed for each printer driver.

[0013] A further problem is that when print documents are printed inpage units of a specified paper size, paper feeding and paper cuttingare always performed to create blank space after the printed part of thepage, and it is therefore not possible to print report style printdocuments, such as a daily sales report, having an indefinite pagelength.

[0014] The present invention is therefore directed to a solution for theabove problems and an object of the invention is to provide a printerdriver, printing control method, and data storage medium having meansfor controlling printing one or multiple print documents printed in pageunits where a particular paper size is one page based on pluralcombinations of print paper feeding and paper cutting operations whenprinting a print document for which there is a print request from anapplication program.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The inventors have extensively researched solutions for the abovedescribed problems. As a result we found that an application program canbe written without considering the printer driver by controlling paperadvancement for each page of the print document and controlling paperadvancement for the print document, controlling whether or not to cutthe print paper after advancing the page, and controlling printing inpage units of the one or plural print documents based on pluralcombinations of paper feeding and paper cutting operations when printingone or plural print documents for which a print request is received froman application program. In other words, we proved that regardless of theapplication program used, printer settings can be made by means of thecommon interface printer driver.

[0016] Furthermore, we also proved that print documents in a reportformat for which the paper length is indefinite, such as daily salesreports, can also be printed.

[0017] The present invention based on these research results isdescribed below.

[0018] A printer driver according to the present invention ischaracterized by comprising a page interval control means forcontrolling printing one or multiple print documents printed by pageunit where a specific paper size is one page based on pluralcombinations of print paper feeding and cutting.

[0019] The page interval control means is further characterized bycomprising a paper feed control means for controlling paper feeding byeach page of the printed one or plural print documents and controllingpaper feeding by each document of the print documents; and a papercutting control means for controlling cutting the print paper.

[0020] The paper feed control means in this case is characterized byadvancing the paper at each page of the one or plural print documents,or by advancing the paper at each document of the one or plural printdocuments.

[0021] Further preferably in this case the paper cutting control meanscontrols whether or not to cut the print paper after a paper feed.

[0022] A printer driver according to the present invention is furthercharacterized by further comprising: (a) a print request receiving meansfor receiving a print request containing print document data from anapplication program; (b) a settings data display control means forselecting and displaying printer settings data according to a printrequest received by the print request receiving means; (c) an inputcontrol means for controlling inputting specific information forprinting the print document; (d) a print data generating means forgenerating print data based on the printer settings and said specificinformation for printing the print document; and (e) a transmissionmeans for sending the print data and print output command to a printer.

[0023] In this case the settings data display control means ischaracterized by displaying the plural combinations of print paperfeeding and cutting controlled by the page interval control means.

[0024] Yet further preferably in this case the input control means ischaracterized by selecting a paper orientation specifying whether anindefinite length direction of the paper is printed as the documentlength or printed as the document width. In addition, the input controlmeans is characterized by selecting a desired combination from theplural combinations of print paper feeding and cutting controlled by thepage interval control means.

[0025] A printing control method according to the present invention ischaracterized by comprising a page interval control step for controllingprinting one or multiple print documents printed by page unit where aspecific paper size is one page based on plural combinations of printpaper feeding and cutting.

[0026] The page interval control step is further characterized bycomprising a paper feed control step for controlling paper feeding byeach page of the printed one or plural print documents and controllingpaper feeding by each document of the print documents; and a papercutting control step for controlling cutting the print paper.

[0027] In this case the paper feed control step is characterized byadvancing the paper at each page of the one or plural print documents,or by advancing the paper at each document of the one or plural printdocuments.

[0028] Yet further preferably in this case the paper cutting controlstep controls whether or not to cut the print paper after a paper feed.

[0029] The printing control method is further characterized by furthercomprising: (a) a print request receiving step for receiving a printrequest containing print document data from an application program; (b)asettings data display control step for selecting and displaying printersettings data according to a print request received by the print requestreceiving step; (c) an input control step for controlling inputtingspecific information for printing the print document; (d) a print datagenerating step for generating print data based on the printer settingsand said specific information for printing the print document; and (e) atransmission step for sending the print data and print output command toa printer.

[0030] In this case the settings data display control step ischaracterized by displaying the plural combinations of print paperfeeding and cutting controlled by the page interval control step.

[0031] Yet further preferably, the input control step is characterizedby selecting a paper orientation specifying whether an indefinite lengthdirection of the paper is printed as the document length or printed asthe document width. In addition, the input control step is characterizedby selecting a desired combination from the plural combinations of printpaper feeding and cutting controlled by the page interval control step.

[0032] A data storage medium according to the present invention is adata storage medium recording a program of the above printing controlmethod. The data storage medium can be a Compact Disc, floppy disk, harddisk, magneto-optical disc, Digital Video Disc, semiconductor memory, ormagnetic tape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a POSterminal;

[0034]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the POSterminal;

[0035]FIG. 3 is a function block diagram of the printer driver;

[0036]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the printing control process of theprinter driver;

[0037]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a page mode correspondence process;

[0038]FIG. 6 shows some print documents;

[0039]FIG. 7 shows a print image when the paper orientation is set to“portrait” and the page mode is set to “form” mode;

[0040]FIG. 8 shows a print image when the paper orientation is set to“portrait” and the page mode is set to “report” mode;

[0041]FIG. 9 shows a print image when the paper orientation is set to“landscape” and the page mode is set to “form” mode; and

[0042]FIG. 10 shows a printer parameter settings screen.

BEST MODE FOR ACHIEVING THE INVENTION

[0043] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is describedbelow with reference to the accompanying figures. It is to be noted thatthe following embodiments are shown by way of description only and shallnot limit the scope of the invention. It will be obvious to one withordinary skill in the related art that various alternative embodimentscan be achieved by replacing some or all of the elements described belowwith equivalent elements, and all such variations are included in thescope of this invention.

[0044]FIG. 1 is an perspective view showing the appearance of a POSterminal. POS terminal 100 has a cash drawer 102 at the bottom of theunit and a keyboard 103, display 104, hand scanner 105, and printer 106on top. A card reader can also be disposed to the POS terminal 100.

[0045] The printer 106 in this case is built into the top of the unitwith receipt exit 106 a and journal confirmation window 106 b formed inthe top surface of the terminal. The POS terminal 100 may also have areceipt issuing function. In other words, the printer 106 is also usedas a printer for issuing sales receipts and the receipt exit 106 a isalso used as a sales receipt exit. A printer for issuing sales receiptscould, of course, also be disposed to the POS terminal 100.

[0046] In addition to number keys, a department key, subtotal key, totalkey, and other keys needed for product registration, the keyboard 103also has a receipt key for issuing sales receipts.

[0047]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the POSterminal. As shown in FIG. 2 ROM 202 storing program data, RAM 203 inwhich various memory units (storage areas) are formed for dataprocessing, clock circuit 204 for tracking the current date and time,I/O port 206 for outputting a drive signal to open the cash drawer 102,display controller 207 for driving and controlling the display 104 todisplay text data corresponding to the display data, keyboard controller208 for capturing key signals corresponding to key input from thekeyboard 103, and communication interface 209 for sending data such ascontrol commands and data for printing to the printer 106, are connectedvia bus line 205 to the CPU (central processing unit) 201. Acommunication interface 210 for receiving data from the communicationinterface 209 is connected to the printer 106. A program stored on ahard disk not shown in the figure is run in RAM 203. It should be notedthat the data stored or to be stored in ROM 202 and RAM 203 may be datastored or to be stored in a database on a hard disk not shown in thefigure.

[0048]FIG. 3 is a function block diagram of a printer driver. Each ofthe functions is described below. As shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 201 has acontrol means 301, request receiving means 302, settings data displaycontrol means 303, input control means 304, page interval control means305, print data generating means 306, and transmission means 307.

[0049] The request receiving means 302 of CPU 201 receives printrequests for the printer from an application program together with theprint document.

[0050] The settings data display control means 303 of CPU 201 presentsthe printer settings for the print document received by the requestreceiving means 302 on the display based on the printer settings storedin printer settings memory 310 of RAM 203 and the screen format storedin the screen format memory 320 of ROM 202.

[0051] The input control means 304 of CPU 201 selects or inputs dataaccording to the printer settings displayed by the settings data displaycontrol means 303. Note that there are two printer settings here: pagemode and paper orientation. The page mode is a printer setting forspecifying plural combinations of paper feeding and cutting operationsfor the print paper used to print the print document, and paperorientation is a printer setting for specifying whether the indefinitelength direction of the roll of paper is to be printed as the paperlength or width.

[0052] The page interval control means 305 of CPU 201 determines whetherto advance the paper to create blank space after the printed part of thepage, and whether to cut the paper after advancing the paper, based onthe page mode printer setting input with the input control means 304.

[0053] The print data generating means 306 of CPU 201 generates printdata for sending a print image of the print document to the printer bygenerating print data that is an image of the print document and thenadding thereto information on the presence or absence of blank spaceafter the printed part of the page and the presence or absence of papercutting as determined by the page interval control means 305.

[0054] The transmission means 307 of CPU 201 sends the print datagenerated by the print data generating means 306 together with a printrequest to the printer. It will be obvious that the print data couldalso contain the print request.

[0055] The control means 301 of CPU 201 controls and correlatesoperation of the request receiving means 302, settings data displaycontrol means 303, input control means 304, page interval control means305, print data generating means 306, and transmission means 307.

[0056]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the printing control process. When thesoftware program of the printer driver is stored as part of theoperating system in RAM 203, the CPU 201 waits for a print request to beissued by the application program (step S401). Multitasking can beachieved with currently used operating systems by having the CPU 201execute other programs during this standby state. Note, however, thatthis type of control transition is not shown in the figure. The end ofstep S401 therefore means that a print request was issued by theapplication program.

[0057] When a print request is received the CPU 201 presents the printersettings stored in RAM 203 on the display 104 (step S402).

[0058] The CPU 201 also determines the type of input operation (e.g.,page mode or paper orientation) input by the operator or data processingdevice manager by way of an input device (step S403). The operator ordata processing device manager can change the printer settings byreferring to the printer settings displayed on screen and manipulatingan input device such as a keyboard or mouse as necessary.

[0059] If the operator or data processing device manager specifies thepage mode (step S403: page mode), the page mode setting is stored in RAM203 (step S404) and the procedure loops back to step S402.

[0060] If the operator or data processing device manager specifies thepaper orientation (step S403: paper orientation), the paper orientationsetting is stored in RAM 203 (step S405) and the procedure loops back tostep S402.

[0061] If some other printer setting is input (step S403: other), thecorresponding process is run (step S410) and the procedure loops back tostep S402.

[0062] If OK is input (step S403: OK) to end printer settings input, theprinter settings display is ended and the procedure advances to stepS406.

[0063] When the operator or data processing device manager completes thesettings (step S403: OK), CPU 201 checks the RAM 203 and generates inRAM 203 a print image of the document to be printed from the printdocument and printer settings data based on the page mode (step S406).

[0064] Finally, CPU 201 sends a print command and the print datagenerated in RAM 203 based on the above-described content to the printer(step S407).

[0065] Control then returns to step S401 to wait until a new printcommand is issued by the application program.

[0066] A printer driver according to this embodiment of the inventioncan cause printing using a print format (referred to below as a “formformat”) in which a page unit is the unit of the printed part printed tothe print paper, or a print format (referred to below as a “reportformat”) in which the print document is the unit of the printed partprinted to the print paper.

[0067] Each of these print formats, form format and report format, canbe used with paper cutting and without paper cutting.

[0068] There are, therefore, four possible page modes specifyingmultiple combinations of paper feeding and paper cutting of the printpaper used to print the print document: a Form [Cut] mode, Form [No cut]mode, Report [Cut] mode, and Report [No cut] mode.

[0069] In the Form [Cut] mode, the print format is the form format andthe paper is cut. This mode can be used, for example, when printingplural copies of a regularly sized form such as a coupon so that eachcoupon is printed as a single page and the print paper is cut after eachcoupon, that is, every page, to produce plural coupons.

[0070] In the Form [No cut] mode the print format is the form format andthe paper is not cut. This mode can be used to, for example, print oneprint document containing text and figures so that page divisions can bedetermined without cutting each page of text and figures.

[0071] In the Report [Cut] mode the print format is the report formatand the paper is cut. When sales data for one day is contained in oneprint document, for example, this mode enables sales data for each dayto be printed in a batch to one printed sheet.

[0072] In the Report [No cut] mode the print format is the report formatand the paper is not cut. When sales data for one day is contained in asingle print document, for example, this mode enables printing one weekor one month of sales data in batches of daily sales data to one printedsheet.

[0073] In addition to the above four page modes it is also possible toset a mode (referred to below as a Report [No feed] mode) in which thepaper is not advanced to create a specific blank space and the paper isnot cut after finishing printing one print document. For example, when astore logo is printed at the top of a receipt when receipts are issued,this mode can print the store logo for the next receipt withoutadvancing or cutting the paper after printing the previous receipt iscompleted. After the logo is printed, the application program can drivethe printer to cut the paper in order to issue the previous receipt.This is effective for eliminating wasting a length of the roll of paperequivalent to the length of the paper path between the print head andcutter of the printer.

[0074]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a page mode correspondence process inthe printing control process. First, the CPU 201 determines the paperorientation stored in RAM 203 (step S501).

[0075] If the paper orientation is “portrait” (step S501: portrait) thepage mode type stored in RAM 203 is determined (step S502).

[0076] If the page mode is set to Form [No cut] (step S502: Form [Nocut]), image data for printing the document to be printed is generatedfrom the print document data so that the specified blank space iscreated after each printed page, that is, so that the paper is advancedafter printing each page (step S503), and the page mode correspondenceprocess ends. The paper cutting command for cutting the paper is notissued in this case.

[0077] If the page mode is set to Form [Cut] (step S502: Form [Cut]),image data for printing the document to be printed is generated from theprint document data so that the specified blank space is created aftereach printed page, that is, so that the paper is advanced after printingeach page, and the paper is cut after each page, that is, a papercutting command for cutting the paper after the paper is advanced isissued (step S504), and the page mode correspondence process ends.

[0078] If the page mode is set to Report [No cut] (step S502: Report [Nocut]), image data for printing the document to be printed is generatedfrom the print document data so that the specified blank space iscreated after printing the entire print document instead of after theprinted part of each page, that is, so that the paper is advanced afterprinting the print document is completed (step S505), and the page modecorrespondence process ends. The paper cutting command for cutting thepaper is not issued in this case.

[0079] If the page mode is set to Report [Cut] (step S502: Report[Cut]), image data for printing the document to be printed is generatedfrom the print document data so that the specified blank space iscreated after printing the entire print document instead of afterprinting each page, that is, so that the paper is advanced after theentire print document is printed, and the paper is cut after each printdocument, that is, a paper cutting command for cutting the paper afterthe paper is advanced is issued (step S506), and the page modecorrespondence process ends.

[0080] If the page mode is set to Report [No feed] (step S502: Report[No feed]), image data for printing the document to be printed isgenerated from the print document data so that the specified blank spaceis not created after each printed page and is not created after printingthe entire print document, that is, so that the paper is not advancedeven after the entire document has been printed, and the page modecorrespondence process ends. The paper cutting command for cutting thepaper is not issued in this case.

[0081] If the paper orientation is set to “landscape” (step S501:landscape) the page mode type stored in RAM 203 is determined (stepS508).

[0082] If the page mode is set to Form [No cut] (step S508: Form [Nocut]), image data for printing the document to be printed is generatedfrom the print document data so that the specified blank space iscreated after each printed page, that is, so that the paper is advancedafter printing each page (step S509), and the page mode correspondenceprocess ends. The paper cutting command for cutting the paper is notissued in this case.

[0083] If the page mode is set to Form [Cut] (step S508: Form [Cut]),image data for printing the document to be printed is generated from theprint document data so that the specified blank space is created aftereach printed page, that is, so that the paper is advanced after printingeach page, and the paper is cut after each page, that is, a papercutting command for cutting the paper after the paper is advanced isissued (step S510), and the page mode correspondence process ends.

[0084] Print images based on the page mode and paper orientation aredescribed next below with reference to accompanying figures.

[0085]FIG. 6 shows print documents. FIG. 6(a) shows a print documentwhen the print orientation is set to “portrait,” and FIG. 6(b) shows aprint document when the print orientation is set to “landscape.” Asshown in FIG. 6 there are three print documents, document A, document B,and document C. Document A and document B are documents for which thepaper orientation is “portrait,” and document C is a document for whichthe paper orientation is “landscape.” Document A, document B, anddocument C each has two pages and each document ends in the middle ofthe second page.

[0086] Print images of document A, document B, and document C printed ineach page mode are shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9.

[0087]FIG. 7 shows a print image in a form format for printing pageunits when the paper orientation is set to portrait. FIG. 7(a) shows theprint image when the page mode is set to the Form [No cut] mode, andFIG. 7(b) shows a print image when the page mode is set to the Form[Cut] mode. Blank space S0 at the leading edge of the paper is blankspace resulting from the amount of paper held between the printerrollers (not shown in the figure) during printing and the top margin ofthe form. Printed part A-1 and printed part A-2 indicate page 1 and page2 of document A. Printed part B-1 and printed part B-2 indicate page 1and page 2 of document B.

[0088] As shown in FIG. 7(a), the print images when the page mode is setto the Form [No cut] mode have paper feed blank space S1 created byadvancing the form after printed part A-1, printed part A-2, printedpart B-1, and printed part B-2, respectively. In other words, leadingedge blank space S0, printed part A-1, paper feed blank space S1,printed part A-2, paper feed blank space S1, printed part B-1, paperfeed blank space S1, printed part B-2, and paper feed blank space S1 arecreated in sequence from the top of the form to a single sheet of printpaper.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 7(b), the print images when the page mode is setto the Form [Cut] mode have paper feed blank space S2 created byadvancing the form after printed part A-1, printed part A-2, printedpart B-1, and printed part B-2, respectively, and the print paper isthen cut after the paper feed. In other words, a total of four printforms are created from the top of the print paper: one form havingleading edge blank space S0, printed part A-1, and paper feed blankspace S2 created in sequence; one form having leading edge blank spaceS0, printed part A-2, and paper feed blank space S2 created in sequence;one form having leading edge blank space S0, printed part B-1, and paperfeed blank space S2 created in sequence; and one form having leadingedge blank space S0, printed part B-2, and paper feed blank space S2created in sequence.

[0090]FIG. 8 shows report format print images for printing by printdocument unit when the paper orientation is set to portrait. FIG. 8(a)shows the print image when the page mode is set to the Report [No cut]mode, FIG. 8(b) shows a print image when the page mode is set to theReport [Cut] mode, and FIG. 8(c) shows a print image when the page modeis set to the Report [No feed] mode. Blank space S0 at the leading edgeof the paper is blank space resulting from the amount of paper heldbetween the printer rollers (not shown in the figure) during printingand the top margin of the form. Printed part A-1 and printed part A-2indicate page I and page 2 of document A. Printed part B-1 and printedpart B-2 indicate page I and page 2 of document B.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 8(a), the print images of printed part A-1,printed part A-2, printed part B-1, and printed part B-2 when the pagemode is set to the Report [No cut] mode have paper feed blank space S3created by advancing the paper after the last printed part of each printdocument, that is, after printed part A-2 of document A and afterprinted part B-2 of document B. In other words, leading edge blank spaceS0, printed part A-1, printed part A-2, paper feed blank space S3,printed part B-1, printed part B-2, and paper feed blank space S1 arecreated in sequence from the top of the form to a single sheet of printpaper.

[0092] As shown in FIG. 8(b), the print images of printed part A-1,printed part A-2, printed part B-1, and printed part B-2 when the pagemode is set to the Report [Cut] mode have paper feed blank space S4created by advancing the paper after the last printed part of each printdocument, that is, after printed part A-2 of document A and afterprinted part B-2 of document B, and the paper is then cut after thepaper is advanced. In other words, a total of two printed sheets iscreated from the top of the print paper: one sheet having leading edgeblank space S0, printed part A-1, printed part A-2, paper feed blankspace S4 created in sequence, and one sheet having leading edge blankspace S0, printed part B-1, printed part B-2, and paper feed blank spaceS4 created in sequence.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 8(c), the print image of the page when the pagemode is set to the Report [No feed] mode has printed part A-1, printedpart A-2, printed part B1, and printed part B-2 created continuouslywith no blank space between the printed parts. In other words, leadingedge blank space S0, printed part A-1, printed part A-2, printed partB-1, and printed part B-2 are created in sequence from the top of theform to a single sheet of print paper.

[0094]FIG. 9 shows print images in the form format for printing by pageunit when the paper orientation is set to landscape. FIG. 9(a) shows aprint image when the page mode is set to the Form [No cut] mode, andFIG. 9(b) shows a print image when the page mode is set to the Form[Cut] mode. The left margin blank space S5 of the page is blank spaceresulting from the amount of paper held between the printer rollers (notshown in the figure) during printing and the left margin of the form.Printed part C-1 and printed part C-2 indicate page 1 and page 2 ofdocument C. Note that the left margin blank space must be considered asnoted above when the print direction is left to right as indicated inFIG. 9(a), but when the print direction is right to left the rightmargin blank space is considered instead of the above-noted left marginblank space.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 9(a), the print images when the page mode is setto the Form [No cut] mode have paper feed blank space S6 created to theright of each printed part, printed part C-1 and printed part C-2, byadvancing the form. In other words, left margin blank space S5, printedpart C-1, paper feed blank space S6, printed part C-2, and paper feedblank space S6 are created in sequence from the left end of the form toa single sheet of print paper.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 9(b), the print images when the page mode is setto the Form [Cut] mode have paper feed blank space S7 created to theright of each printed part, printed part C-1 and printed part C-2, byadvancing the form, and the print paper is then cut after the paper isadvanced. In other words, a total of two print sheets is created fromthe left end of the print paper: one printed sheet having blank space S5at the left end of the paper, printing part C-1, and paper feed blankspace S7 created in sequence; and one printed sheet having blank spaceS5 at the left end of the paper, printing part C-2, and paper feed blankspace S7 created in sequence.

[0097] It should be noted that the length of blank spaces S0 to S7 isadjustable by the application program.

[0098]FIG. 10 shows a printer settings screen (a so-called printerproperties window) for inputting the page mode and paper orientation.FIG. 10(a) shows a printer settings screen in which the paperorientation is set to portrait, and FIG. 10(b) shows a printer settingsscreen in which the paper orientation is set to landscape.

[0099] When the user selects “portrait” as the paper orientation asshown in FIG. 10 (a), the five selectable page modes, that is, the Form[No cut] mode, Form [Cut] mode, Report [No cut] mode, Report [Cut] mode,and Report [No feed] mode, are presented in a pop-up menu. The desiredmode is selected from the displayed five page modes.

[0100] When the user selects “landscape” as the paper orientation asshown in FIG. 10(b), the two selectable page modes, that is, the Form[No cut] mode and Form [Cut] mode, are presented in a pop-up menu. Thedesired mode is selected from the displayed two page modes.

[0101] The present invention as described above offers the followingbenefits.

[0102] An application program can be created without considering theprinter driver by controlling paper advancement according to the pageunits of each print document or controlling paper advancement bydocument unit for each print document, controlling cutting the paperafter paper advancement, and controlling printing page units of the oneor plural print documents based on plural combinations of paperadvancing and paper cutting when printing one or plural print documentsfor which there is a print request from the application program. Thatis, printer settings can be made using a printer driver providing acommon interface from any application program used.

[0103] It is also possible to print print documents of an indefinitelength in a report format, such as a daily sales report showing salesresults for one day.

[0104] The present embodiment describes an example in which the size ofthe last page varies according to the print data when the paperorientation of a form format document is set to portrait, but paperfeeding and paper cutting can also be controlled so that even the lastpage is the same size as the page size defined for the other pages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printer driver comprising a page intervalcontrol means for controlling, based on a selected one of pluralcombinations of print paper feeding and cutting, printing one ormultiple print documents to be printed in page units where a specificpaper size is one page.
 2. The printer driver of claim 1, wherein thepage interval control means comprises a paper feed control means forcontrolling paper feeding by each page of the printed one or pluralprint documents and controlling paper feeding after each document of theprint documents; and a paper cutting control means for controllingcutting the print paper.
 3. The printer driver of claim 2, wherein thepaper feed control means advances the paper at each page of the one orplural print documents.
 4. The printer driver of claim 2, wherein thepaper feed control means advances the paper at each document of the oneor plural print documents.
 5. The printer driver of any of claims 2 to4, wherein the paper cutting control means controls whether or not tocut the print paper after a paper feed.
 6. The printer driver of claim1, further comprising: (a) a print request receiving means for receivinga print request containing print document data from an applicationprogram; (b) a settings data display control means for selecting anddisplaying printer settings data according to the print request receivedby the print request receiving means; (c) an input control means forcontrolling inputting specific information for printing the printdocument; (d) a print data generating means for generating print databased on the printer settings and said specific information for printingthe print document; and (e) a transmission means for sending the printdata and print output command to a printer.
 7. The printer driver ofclaim 6, wherein the settings data display control means displays theplural combinations of print paper feeding and cutting controlled by thepage interval control means.
 8. The printer driver of claim 6, whereinthe input control means selects a paper orientation specifying whetheran indefinite length direction of the paper is printed as the documentlength or printed as the document width.
 9. The printer driver of claim6, wherein the input control means selects a desired combination fromthe plural combinations of print paper feeding and cutting controlled bythe page interval control means.
 10. A printing control methodcomprising a page interval control step for controlling, based on aselected one of plural combinations of print paper feeding and cutting,printing one or multiple print documents to be printed in page unitswhere a specific paper size is one page.
 11. The printing control methodof claim 10, wherein the page interval control step comprises a paperfeed control step for controlling paper feeding by each page of theprinted one or plural print documents and controlling paper feedingafter each document of the print documents; and a paper cutting controlstep for controlling cutting the print paper.
 12. The printing controlmethod of claim 11, wherein the paper feed control step advances thepaper at each page of the one or plural print documents.
 13. Theprinting control method of claim 11, wherein the paper feed control stepadvances the paper at each document of the one or plural printdocuments.
 14. The printing control method of any of claims 11 to 13,wherein the paper cutting control step controls whether or not to cutthe print paper after a paper feed.
 15. The printing control method ofclaim 10, further comprising: (a) a print request receiving step forreceiving a print request containing print document data from anapplication program; (b) a settings data display control step forselecting and displaying printer settings data according to the printrequest received by the print request receiving step; (c) an inputcontrol step for controlling inputting specific information for printingthe print document; (d) a print data generating step for generatingprint data based on the printer settings and said specific informationfor printing the print document; and (e) a transmission step for sendingthe print data and print output command to a printer.
 16. The printingcontrol method of claim 15, wherein the settings data display controlstep displays the plural combinations of print paper feeding and cuttingcontrolled by the page interval control step.
 17. The printing controlmethod of claim 15, wherein the input control step selects a paperorientation specifying whether an indefinite length direction of thepaper is printed as the document length or printed as the documentwidth.
 18. The printing control method of claim 15, wherein the inputcontrol step selects a desired combination from the plural combinationsof print paper feeding and cutting controlled by the page intervalcontrol step.
 19. A data storage medium recording a program having stepsof the printing control method of any of claims 10 to
 18. 20. The datastorage medium recording a program of claim 19, wherein the data storagemedium is a Compact Disc, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disc,Digital Video Disc, semiconductor memory, or magnetic tape.